


Tell my lungs to keep on breathing (til the setting of the sun)

by MYuzuki



Series: No matter what’s in front of me (I’ll keep fighting til I’ve won) [55]
Category: Final Fantasy XV, Kingsglaive
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, BAMF Cor Leonis, BAMF Nyx Ulric, Canon-Typical Violence, Friendship, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-13 18:29:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28782735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYuzuki/pseuds/MYuzuki
Summary: The journey to Tenebrae goes mostly according to plan, in that they make good time despite having to fight their way through Imperial blockades during the daylight hours and fend off daemon attacks during the night.
Relationships: Cor Leonis & Nyx Ulric
Series: No matter what’s in front of me (I’ll keep fighting til I’ve won) [55]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1897525
Comments: 9
Kudos: 82





	Tell my lungs to keep on breathing (til the setting of the sun)

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back, my friends! My apologies for taking so long to post this latest installment. I’ve been a bit preoccupied with work stuff, plus I was working on some original urban fantasy stories of mine that I had to have finished by a certain date. (I was planning to post last night when I got home from work, but then my truck broke down and all my plans kind of went sideways lol.) 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you’re all doing well these days! I know it’s a difficult time for a lot of people, but I hope my writing can help brighten your day just a little bit.
> 
> Also, if anyone ever wants to flail at/with me about fandom stuff or writing stuff (or just stuff in general) you can find me on tumblr! My username is yuzukimist (the blog itself is called Moonlit Ramblings). My posts are pretty eclectic, but at the moment I’m mostly posting about LOTR, FFXV, and my writing woes (with a bunch of random stuff in-between lol). ;D 
> 
> Anyway, I’ll shut up now. I just missed you guys and wanted to say how good it is to be back. :) Enjoy the drabble!

**Tell my lungs to keep on breathing (til the setting of the sun)**

* * *

The journey to Tenebrae goes mostly according to plan, in that they make good time despite having to fight their way through Imperial blockades during the daylight hours and fend off daemon attacks during the night.

Of course, since Nyx and Cor are two of the strongest warriors Lucis has at its disposal, none of those enemies actually prove to be very much of a challenge, not when the two of them are fighting alongside each other.

Because Nyx isn't sure if it's because of their solid friendship or because of how often they've sparred against each other (often enough to be more than passingly familiar with each other's tactics and instincts) or just because they're both experienced combatants with years of field experience, but there's no denying how completely in sync they are with one another on the battlefield.

Nyx will warp ahead, striking at their enemies in a flurry of motion to draw their attention, and then Cor will swoop in while they're distracted, his ridiculously sharp sword slicing through daemons and MTs alike almost faster than he can track. And when enemies try to flank Cor, Nyx will warp himself in between Cor and the threat, lashing out with the magic that burns ever-present beneath his skin, lightning and fire crackling out from his fingertips with devastating force.

No matter what challenge the enemy throws at them, Nyx and Cor manage to adapt and overcome it, and ultimately they reach the border of Tenebrae after three and a half days of action-packed travel.

From there, it's just a short hike to reach the facility they're going to be laying waste to, so they park their car in an abandoned mine that's nearby and go the rest of the way on foot, traipsing across the scrubby wilderness towards their destination.

They travel mostly in companionable silence for the most part, but it's a silence that's interspersed with friendly conversation every now and again, with Cor teasing Nyx about the latest batch of marriage proposals he's gotten from various Insomnian residents even as Nyx wants to rip his hair out over the whole affair ("for fuck's sake, it's not funny! Half of these people wouldn't have put me out if I was on fire six months ago, much less proposed marriage!" "yes, well, six months ago you weren't the last eligible bachelor of the Lucis Caelum lineage") and Nyx good-naturedly harassing Cor about Monica's tendency to browbeat the Immortal into eating balanced meals despite the fact that he's technically her superior office in the Crownsguard ("never thought I'd see you back down from a fight, Cor" "clearly you've never dealt with Monica's face of supreme disappointment. If someone were to somehow bottle the essence of it, there'd be no need to go to war ever again").

Then, however, Cor blindsides him with a more serious topic.

"Are you ever planning to tell Regis the whole truth?" Cor asks as they crest a hill that's overlooking the weapons factory that they're about to launch a two-man assault on.

Nyx hesitates for a fraction of a second before responding. "Whole truth about what?" he asks, adopting an innocent expression in the hopes that playing dumb will get him out of this conversation.

Cor gives him a thoroughly unimpressed look that he probably deserves, and crosses him arms. "You know what," he says flatly.

Nyx attempts to maintain an air of cluelessness, but gives up after another moment when it becomes clear that Cor isn't buying it. "I guess I just don't see any point in telling him," he says at last, tugging absently at one of his braids. "It's not like any of that shit can happen now, after all. "

Cor frowns slightly. "He wants to know about it," he replies. "Isn't that reason enough?"

Nyx snorts, but there's little amusement in the sound. " Not for me. I mean, why burden him with what happened in another world?" he asks, shaking his head.

"He's the king, Nyx; he's not unaccustomed to carrying burdens."

"Yeah, but that's exactly my point, Cor. Why saddle him with another, especially when there's no point to it? It's over and done, and none of it can happen again. Why waste time telling him about a world he'll never have to live through?"

"Because he wants to know about what happened!"

"He already knows!"

"Not the details," Cor retorts, tone doggedly determined. "He's got a general sense of what happened because of what you've let slip so far, Nyx, but he wants the full picture. He hasn't wanted to push you," he adds, tone softening ever so slightly, "but I know that it would mean a lot to him if you'd confide the truth in him."

Nyx yanks on a braid hard enough for it to hurt, a painful tug on his scalp that grounds him in the present. "Cor, I don't-" He shakes his head, frustrated with his inability to articulate all the ways the thought of telling Regis about the death and fury of that other timeline makes him want to warp to the closest mountain peak and fling himself off a cliff. "Cor, I _can't_ tell him."

"Why?" Cor demands.

"Because I don't want to talk about it," Nyx snaps. "To _anyone_."

"Bullshit," is Cor's immediate response. "You've talked to me about it. And to Crowe and Libertus."

"That's different," Nyx insists, because it _is_. "You're my friends."

"And Regis isn't?" Cor presses, arching an eyebrow in a vaguely judgmental way.

"He's my _king_ ," Nyx sputters indignantly, feeling oddly defensive and a bit like he's been walloped upside the head with something heavy.

"Those two things aren't mutually exclusive," Cor points out, tone dust-dry. "Take it from someone with a lifetime experience with it."

Nyx all but growls at him, a knot of dark emotions tangled up in his chest. "Cor, enough," he says, voice rough. "I don't want to tell Regis about what happened, so please, _drop it_."

"But _why_ ," Cor asks, voice a peculiar mixture of pleading and frustrated.

"Because I _failed_ ," Nyx says, the words bursting out of him entirely without his permission.

Cor, meanwhile, levels Nyx with a completely perplexed look. "I'm sorry, you what?"

"I failed," Nyx repeats through gritted teeth. "I couldn't protect him from Drautos, -couldn't do anything when he was killed _right in front of me_ \- and I couldn't fulfill the final mission he gave me. He ordered me to escort Lunafreya safely from Insomnia, remember? I know I told you that part. But in the end I couldn't even do that much." He shakes his head, echoes of clashing steel and exploding buildings ringing in his ears despite the serene natural surroundings he's standing in now. "Libertus is the one who got her out of the city."

(Well, he assumes that Libertus got her out of the city; he was dissolving into ash right around then, but it seems like a safe enough assumption to make, all things considered.)

A moment of silence, then, "You are such an idiot sometimes," his friend informs him, sounding torn between fondness and exasperation.

Nyx blinks, memories fading into silence as he stares blankly at his friend. "What?"

" _Such_ an idiot," Cor repeats firmly, then yanks him into a loose embrace.

"Cor, what-" Nyx squirms out of reflex, elbowing the other man directly in the ribs, but the Immortal doesn't so much as budge.

"You didn't _fail_ , dumbass," Cor mutters, voice uncharacteristically gentle. "You _literally_ died in the line of duty, fighting for the future of our kingdom. In what way is that a fucking failure?" A pause, then, as Cor pulls away slightly so he can peer at Nyx's face. "Is this why you don't want to tell Regis about what happened? Because you're worried that he'll be disappointed?"

Nyx shrugs helplessly, flailing a little because to say that the thought had never crossed his mind would be a lie. "I mean, it's also probably not a great idea to tell your monarch about his gruesome death in an alternate timeline?" he offers. "Besides, if you're looking at it objectively, I did technically-"

"Six help me, if you say _fail_ one more time I'm going to bash you over the head with a rock," Cor threatens. "You channeled the power of the Lucii and single-handedly defeated an invading enemy force, sacrificing your own life in the process. And then somehow you came back in time to stop the whole mess from ever happening in the first place. That is the _complete opposite_ of failure."

Nyx huffs at him, scowling as he pulls away and stuff his hands into his pockets to hide the slight tremble in his fingers. "Cor-"

"I will bet you a thousand gil," the Immortal says, cutting him off , "that not only will Regis not be disappointed in you, he'll fucking apologize for what you went through."

"What?" Nyx squints at Cor. "Why the hell would _he_ apologize, that's ridiculous. None of what happened was his fault."

Cor shrugs. "The why of it doesn't really mater, does it? You gonna take the bet or not?"

"...why do I feel like this is a trap," Nyx mutters.

"Because you're a paranoid bastard," Cor replies, one corner of his mouth quirking up into that familiar smirk.

Nyx concedes the point with a tip of his head, then sighs. "Fine. I'll take the bet."

"Excellent," Cor says briskly. "You can inform Regis about happened when we get back to Insomnia, then."

Nyx glares at his friend, who looks back at him with an entirely unrepentant look on his face. "Fine. Fantastic. Can we please go blow up that factory now?" he grumbles after a moment, still feeling slightly off-balance with a nervous itching feeling across his shoulders that makes him want to stab something.

Cor rolls his eyes, reaches out to lightly cuff Nyx on the arm, and then strides off down the hill towards the Imperial facility in question. "Yes, we can absolutely do that. Let's go."

**Author's Note:**

> So! Hope everyone liked that! It didn’t come out precisely how I wanted, but I’m satisfied with the end result anyway, so I hope you guys liked it as well. This drabble mostly came about because I was thinking about 1) how Regis wants to know about the alternate timeline but doesn't want to push Nyx about it 2) Nyx doesn’t necessarily like thinking or talking about that timeline in general, but seems to be avoiding talking about any of it *specifically* to Regis 3) Cor is aware of all of this, wonders why he’s stuck with idiot geniuses for his closest friends, and decides to try and fix it even if he doesn’t know exactly *why* Nyx is averse to telling Regis the whole truth. Basically, I’m building up to Nyx finally giving Regis the full rundown on what happened, but we needed extra angst and drama before we get there. ;D


End file.
